This invention relates to photographic apparatus and, more particularly, it concerns camera apparatus for close-up photography particularly of a vehicle identification number plate through the windshield of the identified vehicle.
A vehicle identification number (hereinafter "VIN") is a lengthy combination of letters and numerals stamped on a small metallic plate, for example, about 1/2 inch in width and 4 inches in length, which is attached to the interior of the vehicle when the vehicle is manufactured. Each vehicle has its own unique VIN so that it can be properly identified even though altered in other material respects, such as by repainting, or by structural modification. The VIN plate is commonly located on the driver's side of the vehicle between the dash and the windshield near the lower edge of the windshield. While the VIN plate may be differently positioned behind the windshield, it is universally intended to be read through the windshield rather than from the vehicle interior.
Because of the lengthy and generally random combination of alphanumeric characters used in VINs, manually copying of a VIN is likely to result in errors. Also manual or visual comparison of the VIN with a record of the same number is adequately difficult to facilitate fraudulent misrepresentations about the vehicle to insurance companies, law enforcement agencies, vehicle licensing authorities and the like. Accordingly, much interest has been expressed for photographic equipment by which a permanent record of the VIN may be made photographically.
One known accessory which attempts to solve some of the problems associated with photographing a VIN plate using a conventional camera having an objective lens and a built-in strobe includes a tube, a close-up lens and a pair of polarizing filters. The length of the tube sets the camera to windshield distance in correspondence with the shortening of the focal length of the camera objective brought about by the close-up lens. To control windshield reflection which would otherwise occur during a flash exposure of the VIN plate, one of the polarizing filters is mounted over the strobe and the other polarizing filter is mounted over the close-up lens with the plane of oscillation of the polarizing filter over the lens being offset with respect to that of the polarizing filter over the strobe. These polarizing filters reduce the amount of light available to expose the film to less than one half the initial strobe output. The close-up lens not only reduces the focal length of the objective lens, but also produces a very short depth of field, for example, about 1/4" at a 4" focal distance using the accessory with a Sun 600 LMS camera marketed by Polaroid Corporation of Cambridge, Massachusetts. This short depth of field cannot accommodate variations in VIN plate location and results in poor quality, out-of-focus VIN plate images.
In light of theforegoing, there is a need for an improved vehicle identification camera for photographing a VIN plate through a windshield.